Protestant Reformers

Fictitious dispute between leading Protestant reformers (sitting at the left side of the table: Luther, Zwingli, Calvin, Melanchthon, Bugenhagen, and Oecolampadius) and representatives of the Catholic Church, surrounded by important Protestant reformers

The Magisterial Reformation connected the visible Christian church with society as a whole, as the Roman Catholic Church had before, thus imposing on the government and magistrates Christian duties, such as supporting the new churches economically and weighing in on issues of doctrine.

Because these reformers were those of the Radical Reformation and the Anabaptist movement, they have not been traditionally listed with the mainline Protestant reformers. (Compare the reformers of the "Second Front" of the Reformation below):

There were also a number of people who initially cooperated with the Reformers, but who separated from them to form a "Second Front", principally in objection to the Reformers' sacralism. Among these were:

George, Timothy. Theology of the Reformers. Nashville, Tenn.: Broadman Press, 1988. N.B.: Comparative studies of the various leaders of the Magisterial and Radical movements of the 16th century Protestant Reformation.